Thursday, October 23, 2014

If you can make it here

U.S. manufacturers are
increasingly considering factors other than direct costs such as labor
when they devise their production strategies. More than 70 percent cited
better access to skilled talent as a reason for moving operations to
the U.S.—more than four times as many respondents as those who cited
access to talent as a reason for relocating production outside the U.S.
For goods that would be sold in the United States, around 80 percent
cited logistical reasons such as shorter supply chains and lower
shipping costs as primary reasons for moving operations to the U.S. from
other countries.

“We have long advised companies to look at the total cost of
manufacturing in the U.S. and to consider the entire supply chain—not
just the obvious factors such as wages,” said Michael Zinser, a BCG
partner who leads the firm’s manufacturing
practice in the Americas. “When companies take a holistic view, the
U.S. increasingly comes out ahead, particularly if those products are to
be consumed in the U.S.”

Which they did many years ago and concluded it made sense to move their manufacturing overseas. Now things have changed...as they have always done....